The Life of a Queen
by Ameeraidoj
Summary: This the chapter story companion to Stubborn With Love. This tells the story of Clarisse's life.
1. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Princess Diaries_.

Author's Note: This is the chapter story that I promised to write in _Stubborn With Love_. I will probably update once a month. I also want to change the title, so I am open to suggestions. Please read and review and give any grammar suggestions since I do not have a beta reader.

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Clarisse Marie Gerard was walking down the main road in Pyrus on her way to the royal palace. It had been three weeks since her twelfth birthday. For two weeks, she had been living with her grandmother, who lived close to Genovia's capital. As she walked on, she reflected on her life, especially the main event that changed everything.

Clarisse lived with her family in the Northern part of Genovia. Her childhood had been happy until, when she was five, her mother announced that she was pregnant. Oh, Clarisse did not mind becoming a big sister; as a matter of fact, she was excited. It was her father, Lord Jacques Gerard, a member of Parliament, who changed during the pregnancy.

Clarisse was a little wild – always climbing trees and getting her dress dirty and torn. Her father did not mind his daughter acting like a tomboy, but once his wife announced the pregnancy, he minded a great deal. Clarisse demanded much attention from her mother. Unfortunately, the pregnancy took a great toll on Lady Gerard and she was bedridden. Lord Gerard, wanting to have a healthy son, began to yell at little Clarisse for disturbing her mother. Clarisse soon became frightened of her father's temper, as it was something she had never encountered before.

Finally, the time came for Lady Gerard to give birth. The labor lasted for hours. Christophe George Gerard was born two months after Clarisse's sixth birthday. Baby Christophe was very small and ill, but Lady Gerard was even worse.

One month after Christophe's birth, Lady Gerard died. Lord Gerard's temper became even worse. Though he never laid a hand on Clarisse, his yelling was enough to scare the little girl.

He soon sent Clarisse to a boarding school in England where she was taught reading, writing, and how to behave like a lady. The school did not focus on bookwork, but Clarisse taught herself history, math, and science from the books in the school library. The school was run by the strictest teachers in England, who would discipline her for taking the books, but she continued anyway. She never made friends at the school; she closed herself in a shell because of her home life.

Every summer, Clarisse would return to her home in Genovia. Christophe was a sickly toddler, but he managed to survive. Her father's temper had subsided somewhat, but only because he would bring a "lady friend" home every other day. This "friend" would always spend the night.

When Clarisse was ten, Christophe died. Even though she was not close to her brother because her father sent her away, she still was heart broken. She was away at school when he died, but her father would not bring her home so she could attend the funeral. Clarisse would never forgive herself for not being there and would forget the fact that she could have not attended unless her father had sent for her. She cried for weeks and skipped meals, which was a punishment for crying since a lady never cries. She stayed at the school for two more years.

On Clarisse's twelfth birthday, Lord Gerard had, what he thought to be wonderful and surprising, news for his daughter. He told Clarisse that she was betrothed to the Crown Prince of Genovia, Friedrich Henry Rupert Mann Renaldi known as Prince Rupert. Clarisse was shocked that her father sold her off to the royal family, especially because she knew the Crown Prince to be twenty-five years old, which meant that he was thirteen years older than her. They were to be married between Clarisse's seventeenth and eighteenth birthday. She had just turned twelve and in a little over five years, she would be married and the princess of Genovia! She knew that most girls would want to be in her shoes and frankly, she wished they were. She knew that if she became the princess, she would be set for life not having to depend on her father, but as much as she knew that her father did not want her, she never would have figured that her father would marry her off in order to get rid of her. She had always planned to leave he father after she turned eighteen and would go to a university to study biology or journalism or anything, but now, her plans were gone. She did not want to get married until her twenties, but now she was getting married in her teens. Her father told her that she was to meet with Queen Mignonette in three weeks.

That was where she was going now. She continued to walk through the streets of Pyrus. She was wearing her best dress and was carrying her suitcase because she was supposed to stay at the palace for four days. She would not have the chance to meet her future husband during this visit as he was in France, according to the newspapers. The King of Genovia would be much too busy to bother with her, so she would see the Queen of Genovia only. She decided that she needed some fresh air before meeting the Queen, so she decided to walk to the palace.

Clarisse loved Church music, so as she walked by the church, she became distracted with the lovely choral music. She did not watch where she was going, and so someone bumped into her, sending her to the ground. A hand reached out and helped her up. Clarisse muttered a "thank you" as she got her balance.

"I'm sorry," said a voice with a Spanish accent. Clarisse looked up and saw a teenaged boy dressed in a military uniform. He continued, "I was rushing to get back to the military academy and I guess I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's quite all right. I was distracted myself because of the music," replied Clarisse grimly.

"You sound and act like you're going to a funeral."

"I guess, in a way, I am. I'm going to meet my future mother-in-law."

"Mother-in-law? You're what, ten, eleven?"

"I'm twelve and it's an arranged marriage." Clarisse paused and realized, "I beg your pardon, why am I telling you about my life?"

"I have no idea, but I do find it interesting. Well, good luck with your future in-laws and marriage." With that, the boy walked away in the opposite direction.

Clarisse had no idea why, but at the time, she was mystified with the boy. She would forget her encounter with him very quickly. She would never realize that that same boy would become the man who would guard her life with his life.


	2. Clarisse's Doubts

Sorry everyone that it has taken me sooooo long to update. I hope that I can have another chapter up within two weeks, but no promises. Thank you for your reviews.

Disclaimer: If I owned the rights, my college would be paid for.

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Clarisse had been preparing to come to this moment. She was to be married to Prince Rupert of Genovia today.

After over five years of "princess lessons" in which Queen Mignonette was still not completely satisfied, Clarisse had to wake up at five in the morning, even though the wedding was not until that afternoon.

She was nervous about becoming the Princess of Genovia, nervous about becoming the future Queen, but mainly nervous about being a part of an arranged marriage. She was now friends with Rupert, owing to the fact that she had to grow up much faster mature-wise than others at her age. Still, Rupert was fourteen years older than she was and more than likely had experience when it came to "that". She would be eighteen in two months, and yet here she was getting married to a man almost twice her age!

With the way that the queen kept talking about her, she had many self-doubts about everything that she would take on through the marriage to Rupert. One problem that she had at first was hiding her emotions. Because of her early tomboyish attitude, Clarisse was a very out-spoken child, but the queen quickly got her out of the habit through the help of her father. Clarisse lived between the palace, boarding school, and her father until she was fifteen in which she lived at the palace fully and was finally allowed to meet her future husband. Unfortunately, she did not know what exactly "love" was, even though she read about it in many romance novels, but she was very sure that she did not "love" Rupert. She once talked to the queen about her concern, but the queen just laughed thinking it was a joke. Clarisse quickly learned never to ask questions about her future marriage, but only about her future as a princess and queen. She never discussed her concern with Rupert.

Yet here she was, wishing that she had someone like a mother in order to talk. She became close with her maid, Estrella, but Estrella would never talk about Clarisse's personal life as a future wife. Every time she tried to ask for advice about her concern, Estrella would always either change the subject or tell her to talk to the queen.

Clarisse was waiting for her dressers and hairstylists in order to look beautiful for the wedding. She thought back to the worst conversation she ever had with the queen that had to do with her main concern. She was sixteen going on seventeen and the lesson of that day was the ways of the royals. The queen taught Clarisse what was expected of her – to stand by her husband, make her husband look good, give birth to at least two heirs, and to remain faithful to her husband. The queen then told Clarisse not to expect that her husband would remain faithful to her as it was highly anticipated that her husband would take a lover at some point during their marriage. Clarisse was shocked at the idea that what she had to do for her husband was not expected of him (not that she wanted to have an affair while married), but the words that came with the marriage vows – "keep yourself only [for your spouse as long as you both shall live" – echoed in her head. The queen then said that the main reward for doing her job properly was that she was the envy of all the women in the country. That reward did not seem very rewarding at all to Clarisse.

Nevertheless, she agreed and was getting dressed for her wedding. Rupert was a good man, so what right did she have to be worried?

The royal wedding would be beautiful, she knew, but yet there was some sinking feeling she had that made her believe that she should not marry Rupert. She had never fallen in love with another and the chance of her meeting her "true love", which she had read about in books, had a higher chance of never happening, while marrying Rupert was a sure-thing. She did not like to think about settling for Rupert, since he was so kind and he deserved better, but also how could a person settle when that person was marrying the future king of Genovia?

Still, doubts ran through her head until it was time for her to go to the cathedral.

She was sitting in a chair in a back room waiting for the signal that it was time. Her father came in to speak with her.

He said to his daughter, "Clarisse, this is a wonderful duty you are doing for your country. I'm very proud of you."

Clarisse hoped that maybe since her father had once loved her mother, maybe he could relieve her concern. "Father, what if I don't learn to love Rupert? What if the person I am supposed to love is still out there?"

Her father did not relieve her fears. "Clarisse, what is more important to you – your duty to your country or your duty to your heart? Has Queen Mignonette taught you nothing these past five years? Have I not raised you to be a true Genovian?"

"Yes, Father you have raised me correctly. The duty to my country comes first always."

"Very good."

Clarisse felt horrible, even though on this day she should have been glowing with joy. She could not help but think _am I condemning Rupert and myself to a loveless marriage of misery or will the friendship we have now turn into love?_ From the many books she had read like _Pride and Prejudice_ and _Sense and Sensibility_, a marriage was pointless unless love was involved. Now she wished more than ever that she had been brave enough to bring this conversation with Rupert, but she realized it was too late. The decision lied with her on whether or not she would marry Rupert. If she did not, her father would probably be in trouble along with her. If she did, she knew she would be content to be married to Rupert, but not completely happy.

A man came to tell Clarisse and her father that it was time for the wedding. Clarisse stood up and realized that her father was right. Clarisse loved her country and decided that she would be married to her country through Rupert. Who knew, maybe she could one day make changes that would help her country. Therefore, the duty to her country was as important as the duty to her heart since her country was in her heart.

Clarisse walked down the aisle on her father's arm, willing and ready to marry the prince of Genovia.


	3. When the Honeymoon Is Over

I had some extra time on my hands, so I decided to update now. Thank you for your reviews and please keep it up.

Disclaimer: I still do not own _The Princess Diaries._

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A month after the honeymoon, Clarisse sat in her personal suite wearing dress pants. She was staring out the window watching the graduates from the Genovian Military Academy train to become either soldiers in the military or part of the secret service – she was not sure which group was training. 

She reflected on the past two months of marriage to Rupert. They had grown closer during their month-long honeymoon. Clarisse admitted her concerns that she had before the wedding to Rupert and Rupert was very patient and understanding, saying that he had some of the same concerns since she was so young and did not really want to take anything away from her. He also admitted that his father did have a mistress, but he himself promised to be faithful to Clarisse. Clarisse was not quite sure whether or not to believe him, but as she got to know him, she learned that he was a man of his word. She soon told him about her brother, Christophe, whom she had never talked about since his death. Rupert helped ease her guilt just by being supportive.

Unfortunately, Clarisse had hardly seen her husband ever since they returned from their honeymoon. Queen Mignonette was as trying as ever, still giving Clarisse princess and queen lessons. The queen insisted that Clarisse should remain in her suite during the day until she believed that Clarisse was ready to face the public. She also told Clarisse that royal couples never lived in the same room, so Clarisse and Rupert had separate suites, which were connected by a secret door that one of them would sneak through so they could be together at night or when they wanted to hide from the queen.

Estrella would talk to Clarisse about world news, but would never talk to Clarisse about her personal talk. Clarisse really wished that she would have a girl friend to whom she could talk. Life was a little lonely.

Of course there were times when Rupert would finish his work quickly and left the rest to his parents in order to spend time with Clarisse. Clarisse found these times to be the happiest times she could ever remember. She loved Rupert, but she realized that she would never be "in love" with him. Since she loved Rupert in some sense, she quickly tried to believe that "in love" did not exist and was merely created for fictional purposes. After all, she believed that a marriage needed only some type of love and a type of love did exist between them.

Clarisse was brought out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. She opened the door for the queen and curtsied. The queen came in and immediately noticed Clarisse's pants.

"Why are you dressed like a man," Queen Mignonette commented.

"Women wear pants these days, Your Majesty," responded Clarisse.

"A princess never wears pants. A princess is required to wear either a dress or a skirt at all times."

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, I am not leaving this room. I am wearing these pants in order to be comfortable in my own suite."

"Did your father ever permit you to wear pants?"

"Your Majesty, I used to wear pants as much as I could since I was a bit of a tomboy."

"Amazing, my son, the Crown Prince of Genovia, has married a girl who wishes to look and act like a boy."

"Your Majesty, if I remember correctly, you arranged the marriage with my father. I really had no choice in the matter." Clarisse's temper was beginning to get the best of her.

"How dare you speak like that to me? You should be grateful to have a man like my son."

"I did not mean to disrespect your son, Your Majesty, and I am very happy in my marriage to Rupert. I am just stating that you chose me for your son and yet you always complain about my manners, actions, and looks. I am sorry that I cannot please you, but I wish that you would just let me be. I will continue in the lessons, but I cannot stay hidden away up here forever."

The queen was thinking, "Very well. You should be tested in public. I know that I have not permitted you to attend any state dinners or royal balls, so there is a state dinner coming in three weeks. We shall work more to get you prepared as Genovia's Princess."

Clarisse was surprised, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The queen then changed the subject to the real reason why she came up to see Clarisse, "Also, my dear, you and Rupert have been married for two months now. How are you both doing in the heir issue?"

Clarisse was stunned, "I beg your pardon?"

Queen Mignonette stated clearly, "Have you yet conceived an heir?"

"Your Majesty, Rupert and I were only married a short time ago. Is it not a little soon to be thinking about children?"

The queen laughed, "I found out that I was with my firstborn two months after I was married to Henry. You both have been married for two whole months. Have you talked about heirs?"

"Well, Rupert and I talked about having children, but we never discussed when."

Just then, there was another knock on the door. The queen said, "Come in," and Rupert entered.

"Mother, why are you talking to my wife about something that is between Clarisse and myself?"

"I thought that maybe she was not offering herself to you as she should."

Rupert rolled his eyes, "Mother, when Clarisse and I have children, it will be on our time, not yours. I assure that we will produce heirs, but it is not going to happen for a while now. Could you please leave so I may talk to my wife in private?"

The queen left without another word and Clarisse was relieved. Rupert said, " I'm very sorry for my mother's actions. Clarisse, don't let her pressure you to do anything until you are ready."

Clarisse looked at him very seriously, "Rupert, do you want to have children now?"

He smiled and responded, "I want you to be ready, Clarisse."

Clarisse was not sure if she wanted to become a mother yet, so she decided to change the subject. "Your mother wants to test me at the state dinner."

"And I'm very sure you'll do fine and charm everyone."

"Thank you, Rupert."


	4. After the Dinner

Thank you everyone for your reviews as always. I enjoy reading people's reactions to what I wrote.

Disclaimer: I wish that I owned _The Princess Diaries_. Also, some of the quotes belong to _The Sound of Music _or were from a deleted scene of _Princess Diaries 2_.

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Clarisse was crying into her pillow. How could she have been so clumsy as to knock over a suit of armor at the state dinner? Adding insult to injury, the knight's spear then flew right into the suckling pig. Well, she knew why. Queen Mignonette had been giving Clarisse a piercing stare all night, as if she had been waiting for Clarisse to make a mistake such as that.

During the dinner, Clarisse did not sit with the royal family, even though she was the princess, but had to sit among diplomats as the queen believed that Clarisse would have to learn to deal with these people someday. Unfortunately, Clarisse was placed among the most obnoxious and disgusting men she had ever met. One man kept on telling rude jokes and spilled his wine as he was laughing. The other man tried to hit on Clarisse. Clarisse had no idea how to handle this situation, so on a pretense of wanting to freshen up before the next course arrived, she left the table quickly and immediately tripped over the knight on display resulting in it falling down. Clarisse wanted to leave the dinner immediately, but the queen forced her to stay. As soon as the guests left, she ran up to her suite without talking to anyone.

Rupert tried knocking on the door, but Clarisse sent him away, still not wanting to talk to anyone. She fell asleep, still crying, in her dinner clothes.

The next morning, the queen entered Clarisse's suite without knocking, finding Clarisse still asleep in her best dress.

"Clarisse, wake up!"

Clarisse stirred, opened her eyes, and found the queen. She jumped up immediately.

The queen began. "That was an appalling display last night. In the years that I have known you, I had never known you to be so clumsy. That was a disgrace to Rupert."

Clarisse really did not want to deal with this at the moment. "I am sorry Your Majesty."

"You embarrassed the entire Renaldi family, especially yourself. What do you think last night's guests will say to the people about our new princess. Do you think that once the people have heard about you manners they will respect you as the future queen? And then trying to leave our guests so they know that you are ashamed; you showed them that you are weak and can easily be bribed. They will walk all over you if you are not presenting yourself as a strong ruler."

"I understand Your Majesty." Clarisse decided not to argue because she wanted the queen to finish her rant and leave as soon as possible.

"How am I ever going to trust you so you can be brought into view of the public eye? The only good news of the evening was that the reporters were not allowed at this affair. Still, the newspapers may report your failure if they hear from the other guests. You are not saying a word. If you remember correctly, you wanted me to test you in public since you believed yourself to be ready for such an occasion."

"I know, Your Majesty. I was wrong, you were right. Are you happy that I am admitting that I had failed the Renaldi family, my position, and you?"

"It shows more weakness. And another thing, you will never sleep in your dress clothes again, no matter how disastrous the night was. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Too much emotion showing through. You might have to spend maybe three years of lessons before I can allow you to face the public, or at least, distinguished dinner guests. Maybe I should have tried you among the servants first."

The queen stopped speaking and had an unusual look on her face. Then she continued. "Clarisse, how long do you think you need in order to straighten yourself up in order to walk among the servants?"

Clarisse have no idea about what she was talking. "I beg your pardon?"

"How long do you need to get out of this depressive state, so I can try you lower and work you up so you will become a respectable member of the Renaldi family at such dinner parties?"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I would prefer not to go out at this moment as I believe that I have hit the bottom of a well."

"Very well, you will attend more lessons and within one month, you will start to walk among the servants, but not as the princess yet. We have so many servants; it is quite impossible for anyone, other than the Head of Security, to know every other servant. You will try to pass yourself off as one of them. Communicate, listen, and learn from the servants on how to behave properly in public. You will not need to do any serving. I will inform those servants who do know you to not communicate with you or to tell the other servants who you truly are. I especially would like to see you among our training staff, including our new soldiers and security in training. Do you understand what I am asking you to do?"

Clarisse thought that the queen was out of her mind, but decided again not to argue. "You want me to pretend that I am a servant in order to learn how they present themselves. You want me to learn from them."

"By being among the servants, you will find out what the people expect from their royals. The servants are a part the people of Genovia. By listening to them, you might understand what exactly they expect from you. The royals represent their country. For the people of Genovia, we are Genovia, so people want much from the royal family. You need to learn what the people expect from you, so you will know if you can expect it from yourself."

Clarisse realized that, for once, the queen was trying to help her instead of making her feel like dirt.

"I know what you expect and I can do it. I promise I can."

The queen smiled. "That is what a strong queen would say."


	5. Servants' Talk

Here is the chapter that probably many people have been waiting for, except it is not conventional.

PLEASE review!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Princess Diaries_, nor will I ever.

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For almost a month, Clarisse had been walking amongst the servants. She found them delightful to talk to and finally found herself able to talk about her personal life (leaving out certain details like she was the princess and had an arranged marriage). She also was learning what the people were expecting from her as a royal, just what Queen Mignonette wanted. Unfortunately, sometimes she heard insults about the royal family, including her as the princess. Quickly, she learned to hold her tongue because defending the family was not something a normal palace worker would do. However, Clarisse decided to use the insults as ways of perfecting her personality so she could become an effective ruler when Rupert's and her time came for them to assume the throne. 

At the end of each day, Clarisse was to give a full report of her outings to the queen, but she decided to always leave out the personal life discussions and the insults, not wanting any of the staff to be fired on her account. She also left out that she was actually learning how to cook and make a wonderful cup of tea, as the queen would be appalled at finding out that Clarisse was actually doing "servants' work." Queen Mignonette seemed pleased with Clarisse's progress. Rupert, on the other hand, told a different story.

Ever since Clarisse told Rupert what Queen Mignonette wanted her to do, Rupert had tried to convince Clarisse not to go out, which had caused a few arguments. The first one was the worse.

Flashback 

_Clarisse had just told her husband what his mother and she had talked about earlier that day._

_Rupert did not say anything for a while but then – "Clarisse, you're not going to listen to my mother. Am I correct?"_

"_What do you mean? Are you saying that you do not want me to follow your mother's orders?"_

"_That is exactly what I am saying. Clarisse, you can't honestly trust my mother; not after what she did to you at the dinner party?"_

"_She did nothing to me. I was the one who made the mistakes."_

"_Clarisse, she planned it out that you would not be able to sit next to me as you should have been, but next to the two most obnoxious characters in the entire country that any guest would believe that the worst of luck was set upon him or her. Don't you understand that she set you up in order to make you look foolish?"_

"_I can't believe that she would set me up knowing that if I made a mistake, the entire royal family would be embarrassed."_

"_Clarisse, believe me, I know my mother. She would set you up in order to manipulate you into doing whatever she wants. You don't know how the servants truly act. More than likely, they make fun of us and gossip. They are only on their best behavior when they are around us. Either my mother wants you to spy on them for her or she wants to subject you to the insults as the new princess would be a huge topic."_

"_Whatever her motivations are, Rupert, I am not going to back down from her request. I need to follow through so she may stop watching my every move. Please, Rupert, believe me when I say that I can handle myself."_

"_You handle yourself wonderfully, Clarisse, except when you are around my mother. I am afraid that she will take away your free spirit."_

_Clarisse became defensive. "You don't trust me unless you are next to me. You do not want me to depend upon myself, but on you! Rupert, if you can't be supportive and let me do what I want, just leave."_

_Rupert looked hurt, but left her suite immediately._

Clarisse's and Rupert's fights always ran along those lines. The more Clarisse seemed to be successful in the queen's challenge, the more Rupert started fighting with her. Clarisse hated that she and her husband were growing distant, but she believed that the problem began with Rupert's pride. If he apologized for his remarks, she would forgive with open arms.

Unfortunately, though, the fights had put Clarisse and Rupert into foul moods when around each other that they had not been together in almost a month, and Queen Mignonette was pressing Clarisse more and more as to when Genovia could expect an heir. Clarisse never told the queen about the rift between Rupert and her, but lied and said that they were working on it.

The lack of contact between Rupert and her was beginning to take its toll on both of them. Clarisse was becoming short-tempered with her lady's maids, since they were the only ones that she was not afraid to show her temper. She always felt horrible afterwards, but she could not bring herself to apologize – not until her situation with Rupert was settled.

In the meantime, Clarisse still walked among the servants.

One day, Clarisse was walking to the entrance hall when she heard voices. She looked around the corner and saw three trainees for either the security team or the Royal Guard (she did not know). All three were quite handsome and were obviously from different parts of the country – one had a British accent, another had a French accent, and the last one had a Spanish accent. The three talked as though they did not care as if anyone could walk in and overhear them, although the subject matter was improper to be speaking about in such a public place. Clarisse just stood around the corner and listened to what they were saying.

"I hear that there are many beautiful servants that are just looking for a handsome soldier to fawn over," said the one with the French accent. "And I plan to be that soldier."

The British trainee responded, "You and the rest of us. Mainly, I want the personal bodyguard position for the new princess. It would be easy; just knock every once in a while and see if she is still in her room."

The Spanish one chimed in, "I heard that she has hardly been outside of her room. The one time she came out in order to attend a state dinner, she knocked over a suit of armor, embarrassed the royal family and has not been heard of since."

"How did you hear that, Joe," asked the British one.

"A cute little number named Emma told me since she was the one who was serving."

The French one said aloud, "Leave it to Joseph. He is just trying to get a job here and already he has himself a girlfriend."

The one named apparently named Joseph responded, "She is not the type for a girlfriend, only one-night stands."

"Well then, you are still the only one who has gotten laid."

"You flatter me. But as I was saying about the new princess, her lady's maids describe her as cold and unfeeling. If the rumors are true, well then whoever receives the position of her personal bodyguard will definitely have enough time to play around with the pretty maids who pass by her doors – a kiss here, a pinch there. Of course, no one will get the job until the princess finds herself carrying the new heir to the Genovian throne, and if the rumors about her being cold are true, then there might not be enough heat to have an heir."

All three of them laughed at Joseph's comment. Clarisse was becoming furious. How dare they make fun of her in such a matter! Yes, she had heard the other servants make fun of her, but what those men (if they could be called that) were saying was disgusting. Clarisse decided to make herself known, but not as the princess. She took a deep breath to calm herself a bit and walked around the corner.

All three men saw her and their eyes lit up. The British one, who was the tallest, decided to speak first. "Well, what do we owe the pleasure of having such a beautiful creature in our mist."

The French man, who was the most handsome of the group, decided to try to be cute, "I must have died and gone to heaven for you look like an angel."

Joseph, who was the toughest looking, but very suavely, said, "My dear, pay no attention to them. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

Clarisse replied specifically to him, "My, you really do turn on the charm when you know that there is a lady present, but when you are only around your friends, you talk about women as if they were meat. Of course all of you act like dogs."

"I see you heard our conversation."

"If that was a conversation, I now know the truth of your intelligence. And in case you don't understand what I'm saying, this is it: You have no intelligence whatsoever."

"I am deeply sorry that I offended you and request that you would give me the chance to make it up to you."

Clarisse held up her left hand with her wedding ring to show off to the men and responded, "Even if I wasn't married, I would never be desperate enough to go out with such as a disgusting pig like yourself." With that, she walked away.

As she was walking, she heard the other two trainees say, "Tough luck, Charlie," and then they laughed.

Clarisse walked straight up to her suite, practically running past Rupert. The more she thought about what the trainees said about her being cold, the more she felt the urge to cry. As soon as she entered her room, she broke down. She never heard Rupert knock or enter.

"My dear Clarisse, what is wrong?" Rupert had put his arms around her.

Between sobs, Clarisse said, "I heard others talk about me as a cold and unfeeling person and I have been. I keep on snapping at my lady's maids and I miss you. You were right, your mother wanted me to suffer through that so she could control me. I'm so sorry for what I have said and done in the past."

Rupert held her tighter as he was broken-hearted to see his wife in such distress. "Clarisse, it is all right. I'm sorry for your pain and for what I've said. But know this, I have not known anyone with a bigger heart than you and you are definitely not cold or unfeeling."

Clarisse looked up and smiled at him. "Thank you, Rupert. You are the most wonderful man in the world." With that, Clarisse kissed him with all the passion she had.


End file.
